Worth magazine's new owner rights ship by charging wealth managers for write-ups
Dozens of financial advisors ante up $30,000 for Worth brand association
Joseph A
For some, I presume the inclination to sign up for this WORTH advertorial is a shortcut to getting the full blown credibility that can be achieved with an ongoing PR campaign. The participants want to position this as third party recognition, but the savvy consumer will see it for what it is -a regionalized advertisement that is cleverly packaged. I’d be curious to know how many of these advisors would re-up after doing this for a year. If this flies, there may be some “me too” pubs on the horizon.
TJ Gilsenan
This program certainly has potential. With just a few additions, I think it could significantly assist the business development efforts of the firms involved. If you are thinking of participating, I suggest the following:
1. There should be a link to your website from the home page of www.worth.com. Why is this important? One of the ways search engines judge the value of your website (and thus if and where your firm appears when someone searches Google, for example) is by the number and quality of links to your site from other sites. In essence, these links count as votes from the citizens of the web. The more “votes” – links from other sites – your site has, the more valuable a search engine judges it to be. The popularity of the site the link comes from is also important. Put another way, a link from your brother-in-law’s blog is no where near as valuable as a link from Worth.com. It should be from the home page to maximize the benefit to your site. 2. The link should point visitors to a page of your site (or a new page specifically designed for this purpose) that offers them something of value – a free white paper, a guide to estate planning, a free portfolio review – in exchange for their contact information. The goal is to convert the traffic created by the Worth advertorial into sales opportunities that can be nurtured by your firm. I would also include an opportunity for the visitor to subscribe to your monthly e-newsletter in exchange for their email. This gives people who may not want to provide their full information a second option. It also allows your to capture their email and market to them over time. 3. Finally, consider tracking how many people come to your site from worth.com. Of that number, how many of them subscribe to your e-newsletter and/or download your white paper? Divide the cost of the ad by the number of opt-in leads you generate to determine your cost per lead. How does this compare to your cost per lead from other sources?
Maria Marsala
With the affluent using social networking venues, I would think that the ads would also include a LinkedIn profile URL, too.
Kevin Dinino
Brooke,
This is the classic “placing your eggs all in one basket” approach. I met with a Worth ad rep about 2 years ago to learn more about this for KCD PR’s clients to see if there could be editorial opportunities and while it could appeal to some, an advisor has so many more options with their marketing an PR budgets. Prospects aren’t stupid, especially Worth readers — it’s a cleverly disguised ad. To Joe’s earlier comment, actually having a PR strategy and connecting across multiple mediums (print, web, social media, broadcast) is the best way to influence a consumer and build credibility. It’s amazing how much money RIA’s throw at one tactic all in the name of looking good.
Having worked in this industry over 12 years, I’d take a long hard look at Worth’s subscriber base and wonder just how many truly affluent investors are paying subscribers. I get my subscription free of charge.
Kevin
